How is the hexagram cast?

The six lines are generated deterministically from your question and date — the traditional three-coin method, made reproducible so you can sit with the same reading.

What are changing lines?

A changing line is at a turning point. It flips to its opposite to form a resulting hexagram, showing the direction the situation is evolving toward.

Is this I Ching reading free?

Yes. Casting your hexagram is free and runs in your browser. Continue into the app to have it read — on its own or alongside four other traditions.

I Ching · Book of Changes

Free I Ching Hexagram Reading

Focus on your question and cast the coins. See your primary hexagram from the Book of Changes, any changing lines, and the hexagram your situation is moving toward.

How an I Ching reading works

Hold one question in mind. The oracle answers what you ask it — a focused question sharpens the hexagram's relevance. Your question and your birth details seed the cast, so the same question with the same birth details always casts the same lines — ask something new and they change.
Six lines are cast, one at a time, bottom to top. Each line comes up solid (yang) or broken (yin) — and some arrive 'changing': already tipping toward their opposite.
The six lines stack into your primary hexagram, one of 64 — a picture of your situation as it stands right now.
Changing lines resolve into a second hexagram. Flip each changing line to its opposite and you get the resulting hexagram — where the situation is heading.

The eight trigrams

坤 Kun · Earth
Receptive support; strength that yields.
震 Zhen · Thunder
Sudden movement; the jolt that sets things in motion.
坎 Kan · Water
Danger met in motion; depth that keeps flowing regardless.
兌 Dui · Lake
Open joy; the pleasure that comes from exchange.
艮 Gen · Mountain
Stillness held on purpose; the point where movement stops.
離 Li · Fire
Clinging brightness; clarity that needs something to illuminate.
巽 Xun · Wind
Gentle penetration; influence that enters without forcing.
乾 Qian · Heaven
Creative force; the initiating impulse.

The 64 hexagrams at a glance

1	The Creative	乾	Pure initiative — heaven’s persistence, creating without pause.
2	The Receptive	坤	Wide ground that carries everything set upon it without complaint.
3	Difficulty at the Beginning	屯	A seed straining against hard soil — real beginnings are never smooth.
4	Youthful Folly	蒙	A question asked before it is understood — clarity only follows honest not-knowing.
5	Waiting	需	Rain gathering overhead while the ground holds still — the moment asks for patience, not motion.
6	Conflict	訟	Two sides certain of the same ground — the dispute costs more than either side admits.
7	The Army	師	Many hands moving as one under a single steady command.
8	Holding Together	比	Scattered drops finding the same low place — belonging that forms around a shared center.
9	Small Taming	小畜	A thin cloud that has not yet become rain — small restraint holding back a larger force.
10	Treading	履	A careful step placed just behind something powerful — respect that keeps its footing.
11	Peace	泰	Heaven and earth exchanging places freely — when what is above flows down, everything meets.
12	Standstill	否	Heaven and earth turned away from each other — the channels close and nothing moves through.
13	Fellowship	同人	Different voices gathered around one open fire — kinship that widens rather than narrows.
14	Great Possession	大有	A granary full under an open sky — abundance held without hoarding it shut.
15	Modesty	謙	A mountain that keeps its height by staying low in how it is carried.
16	Enthusiasm	豫	Thunder breaking loose over open ground — energy that moves others before it moves itself.
17	Following	隨	A current that yields at every bend and still arrives exactly where it means to.
18	Work on the Decayed	蠱	Rot found under a fresh coat of paint — repair begins with naming what has gone wrong.
19	Approach	臨	A tide rising toward the shore — influence that grows before it is fully seen.
20	Contemplation	觀	A tower built high enough to see the whole field at once.
21	Biting Through	噬嗑	A hard piece caught between the jaws — nothing moves forward until it is bitten through.
22	Grace	賁	Firelight under the mountain, dressing the plain thing in a becoming shape.
23	Splitting Apart	剝	The topmost fruit still holding on while the branch beneath it gives way.
24	Return	復	One warm day breaking through the depth of winter — the turn back has already begun.
25	Innocence	無妄	A field planted without calculation — what grows is honest because nothing was staged.
26	Great Taming	大畜	A great weight held steady on the mountain’s back, gathering force before it is spent.
27	Nourishment	頤	A jaw held open around what feeds it — nourishment depends on what is let in.
28	Great Excess	大過	A beam bowed low under more than it was built to bear.
29	The Abysmal	坎	Water repeating through a chasm — danger crossed by moving with it, never against it.
30	The Clinging	離	Fire that needs something else to burn — brightness sustained only by what it clings to.
31	Influence	咸	Mutual attraction moves things without force — openness invites what pushing cannot.
32	Duration	恆	A river that keeps its course through every season without becoming a different river.
33	Retreat	遯	Stepping back up the mountain while keeping the lower ground in clear view.
34	Great Power	大壯	Thunder loud above heaven itself — great strength that still needs a rightful use.
35	Progress	晉	The sun clearing the horizon, rising in full view of everyone below.
36	Darkening of the Light	明夷	A light kept banked and hidden while the world outside grows harsh.
37	The Family	家人	A household that holds its shape because each member keeps to their own post.
38	Opposition	睽	Fire rising while the lake settles — two natures moving apart yet still in view of each other.
39	Obstruction	蹇	A path halted at the foot of a steep climb — the obstacle is real, and so is the way around it.
40	Deliverance	解	Ice breaking loose from a branch all at once — release after tension held too long.
41	Decrease	損	Taking from the full cup below to fill the one that is needed above.
42	Increase	益	Wind at the back of a boat already moving — help arriving exactly where momentum already was.
43	Breakthrough	夬	A single weak plank breaking at last under a great deal of accumulated weight above it.
44	Coming to Meet	姤	An unplanned meeting on an open road — what arrives uninvited still has to be dealt with.
45	Gathering Together	萃	Scattered energies collect around a shared center — the moment favors joining, not going alone.
46	Pushing Upward	升	A shoot climbing steadily toward light it cannot yet see.
47	Oppression	困	A well run dry at the exact moment it is needed most.
48	The Well	井	The same well feeding every household that comes to it, unchanged by who draws the water.
49	Revolution	革	An old skin shed cleanly before the new one has fully hardened.
50	The Cauldron	鼎	Raw ingredients transformed by standing over the fire together.
51	The Arousing	震	A sudden clap that startles the room and passes, leaving everyone more awake than before.
52	Keeping Still	艮	A mountain that does not move, and so is never moved by what passes it.
53	Development	漸	A tree that grows a season at a time, never rushing its own rings.
54	The Marrying Maiden	歸妹	Joining a house as the younger partner — belonging that must be earned inside a role already set.
55	Abundance	豐	The sun at its highest point, already beginning its long descent.
56	The Wanderer	旅	A traveler carrying only what fits in two hands, at home nowhere and courteous everywhere.
57	The Gentle	巽	Wind finding every gap without forcing any of them open.
58	The Joyous	兌	Two lakes sharing the same shoreline, each rising a little because the other is near.
59	Dispersion	渙	A frozen surface breaking apart into water that can move again.
60	Limitation	節	A riverbank that gives the water its shape by knowing exactly where to stop.
61	Inner Truth	中孚	An egg warmed from the inside — trust that shows before there is any proof of it.
62	Small Excess	小過	A small bird flying low along the valley floor, wise enough not to test the high winds.
63	After Completion	既濟	A crossing already made, where the far bank still asks that no one grow careless.
64	Before Completion	未濟	A fox with its tail wet at the very last step of the crossing — nearly there is not yet arrived.

What is the I Ching?

The I Ching (易經), the Book of Changes, is one of the oldest divination systems in the world. A cast produces one of 64 hexagrams — six stacked lines, each solid or broken — that speaks to the shape of your situation.

When lines are 'changing', they transform into a second, resulting hexagram: a picture of where things are heading. This page casts the hexagram; the app interprets it against your question.

Common questions

How is the hexagram cast?: The six lines are generated deterministically from your question and date — the traditional three-coin method, made reproducible so you can sit with the same reading.
What are changing lines?: A changing line is at a turning point. It flips to its opposite to form a resulting hexagram, showing the direction the situation is evolving toward.
Is this I Ching reading free?: Yes. Casting your hexagram is free and runs in your browser. Continue into the app to have it read — on its own or alongside four other traditions.